Sergei Parajanov’s last film, co-directed by Dodo Abashidze, is an Azeri-Turkish love story about a wandering minstrel forced to roam the world for 1001 nights to win the hand of his beloved.
Based on a tale by Armenian director Sergei Parajanov’s favourite Russian poet Mikhail Lermontov, Ashik Kerib is a gorgeous fable about a minstrel compelled to travel the Caucasus to earn riches and win the hand of a rich merchant’s daughter. On his travels he is nearly thwarted by a wicked pasha and a cruel sultan (to whom some critics have drawn parallels with Brezhnev and Stalin).
The viewer may see similarities between the minstrel and Parajanov himself – both are persecuted for forbidden love (Parajanov was jailed for ‘homosexual acts’) and free themselves through art. Shot in Azerbaijan, Ashik Kerib is a glorious tribute to Azeri culture, filled with music, poetry and joy. Although any queerness is necessarily kept at a subtextual level, the film is a feast for the senses and stands as a fitting swan song for a unique director.